Crop conditioner drive

ABSTRACT

A self-propelled windrower has a forward transversely elongated auger-type platform with a central crop discharge opening, and a crop conditioning unit is mounted on the rear wall of the platform and conditions the crop as it moves through the discharge opening. The crop conditioner unit includes a pair of transverse conditioner rolls, which condition the crop as it passes between the rolls, the upper roll being journaled on a pair of vertically swingable arms to vary the clearance between the rolls. A header drive shaft extends forwardly from the propulsion unit and drives a transverse drive shaft, which is mounted on and spans the width of the rear wall of the platform. One end of the transverse drive shaft is connected by a belt drive to the input shaft of a gearbox mounted on the side of the platform, and the gearbox has two output shafts rotating in opposite directions and respectively connected to the upper and lower conditioner rolls by means of transverse drive shafts, which are provided with universal joints and are disposed adjacent to the rear wall of the platform.

United States Patent 1 Pettengill et al.

[111 3,780,505 [4 1 Dec. 25, 1973 CROP CONDITIONER DRIVE [75] Inventors:Donald Herbert Iettengill; Merlyn Duane Bass, both of Ottumwa, Iowa [73]Assignee: Deere & Company, Moline, Ill.

[22] Filed: June 26, 1972 21 App]. No.: 266,298

Glass et al. 56/DIG. 1

Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. N. EskovitzAttorney-H. Vincent l-larsha et a1.

[57 ABSTRACT A self-propelled windrower has a forward transverselyelongated auger-type platform with a central crop discharge opening, anda crop conditioning unit is mounted on the rear wall of the platform andconditions the crop as it moves through the discharge opening. The cropconditioner unit includes a pair of transverse conditioner rolls, whichcondition the crop as it passes between the rolls, the upper roll beingjournaled on a pair of vertically swingable arms to vary the clearancebetween the rolls. A header drive shaft extends forwardly from thepropulsion unit and drives a transverse drive shaft,'which is mounted onand spans the width of the rear wall'of the platform. One end of thetransverse drive shaft is connected by a belt drive to the input shaftof a gearbox mounted on the side of the platform, and the gearbox hastwo output shafts rotating in opposite directions and respectivelyconnected to the upper and lower conditioner rolls by means oftransverse drive shafts, which are provided with universal joints andare disposed adjacent to the rear wall of the platform.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEO 0502 5 1975 saw 1 or 3 FIG. I.

lems.

CROP CONDITIONER DRIVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to a drive for a pair of crop conditioning rolls on anagricultural harvesting ma-' chine.

In harvesting hay or the like, it is'well known to condition the crop bypassing it between a pair of rolls which crush or crimp the cropmaterial to accelerate the curing thereof. When a self-propelledwindrower is used to harvest the crop, the crop is converged toward thecenter of the platform discharged rearwardly. In such a machine, it isknown to mount the crop conditioner unit on the platform rearwardly ofthe discharge opening, so that the crop passes between a pair ofconditioner rolls before it is deposited on the ground in a windrow.Generally, the crop conditioner rolls in such a conditioner unit havebeen driven by chain drives on the side of the conditioner unit.However, one of the conditioner rolls is conventionally adjustabletoward and away from the other to allow for different thickness inthemat of crop material passing between the rolls, and the fact that oneof the rolls is shiftable has complicated the drives for the rolls,particularly when intermeshing rolls are utilized. Also, considerablepower is required to drive the conditioner rolls, and previous driveshave experienced substantial durability prob- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, an improved drive is provided fordriving a pair of crop conditioner rolls on a harvesting machine. Morespecifically, the conditioner rolls are driven by a pair of transverselyextending drive shafts, which have their inner ends connected directlyto the respective conditioner rolls and their outer ends driven inopposite directions by a drive system on the side of the machine.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of agearbox on the side of the machine with two oppositely driven outputshafts, which are connected to the respective conditioner roll driveshafts. Also, universal joints are provided in the conditioner rolldrive'shafts to accommodate any misalignment between the conditionerrolls' and the gearbox output shafts and also to accommodate thevertical adjustment of the shiftable conditioner roll.

Still another feature of the invention resides in the provision oftiming means in at least one of the conditioner roll drive shafts topermit adjustment of the angular relationship of one roll to the other,which is particularly desirable when intermeshing rolls are utilized.

Also according to the invention, the input shaft of the gearbox isdriven by the main platform drive shaft, which drives the other headercomponents, by means of a belt drive on the side of the platform.

Still another important feature of the invention resides in the factthat the gearbox drive and the drive shafts provide a rugged and durabledrive system to reduce field breakdowns in the conditioner roll drive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a left front perspectiveview of a windrower having an augentype platform equippped with aconditioner unit and the novel drive system for the conditioner rolls.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the platform.

FIG. 3 is a left side elevation view of the platform without theconditioner unit and with the shielding removed to show the belt drivesthereon.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the conditioner unit as viewedgenerally along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a section view through the conditioner roll drive shafts asviewed generally along the line 55 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention is embodied in aself-propelled windrower having a mobile traction unit or main frame 10mounted on a pair of forward drive wheels 12 and rear castor wheels 14.The traction unit has a rearward engine compartment 16 with aconventional internal combustion engine.(not shown) mounted therein, anda forward central operators cab 18.

A forward transversely elongated harvesting platform or subframe 20 iscarried by the propulsion unit 10 on a pair of vertically adjustablelift mechanisms 22, which extend forwardly from the traction unit insidethe opposite drive wheels 12 and connect to the platform at a pair ofupper attachment points 24 and lower attachment points 26. As isconventional, the lift mechanisms include hydraulic cylinders, whichcontrol the vertical position of the platform, and counterbalancesprings, which partly counterbalance the weight of the platform.

The attachment points 24 and 26 are mounted on a pair of uprightplatform frame members 28 which are attached to a generally uprightplatform rear wall 30. The lower part of the rear wall curves forwardlyto a forwardly and downwardly extending bottom 32, both the rear wall 30and the bottom 32 extending the width of the platform between opposite,upright side walls 34 and 36.

A transverse cutter bar 38 extends between the opposite side walls 34and 36 along the leading edge of the bottom 32, and a transverse reel 40extends between the side walls generally above and forwardly of thecutter bar 38. As is well known, the reel engages the crop and combs ittoward the cutter bar 38, which severs the crop from the field, and thecrop is thereafter moved upwardly and rearwardly along the platformbottom 32 to a crop converging auger 42. The auger has oppositely woundflights and moves the crop along the bottom to a central area, fromwhich it is propelled rearwardly through a central discharge opening 44in the rear wall 30. All of the above, represents more or less wellknown harvesting machine construction.

As is also well known, a crop conditioner unit, indicated in itsentirety by the numeral 46, is mounted on the rear wall 30 and receivesthe crop as it moves through the discharge opening 44. The conditionerunit includes a pair of generally upright side members 48 interconnectedby a transverse top-member 50, the forward end of which is provided witha generally vertical attachment flange 52. The conditioner unit 46 isremovably attachable to the platform by means of fasteners, which attachthe flange 52 to the transverse platform frame member 54, which extendsbetween the platform frame members 28 above the discharge opening 44.

A pair of arms 56 are respectively mounted on transversely alignedpivots 58 on the opposite conditioner unit side members 48, so that thearms are free to swing in a generally vertical direction. An upperconditioner roll 60 is supported between the arms 56 forwardly of thearm pivots 58 and include an axial shaft 62 having its opposite endsjournaled in bearings 64 carried by the arms 56. The shaft 62 extendsthrough generally vertical slots 66 in the opposite side members 48,which permits the vertical'adjustment of the upper roll 60. A lowerconditioner roll 68 similarly includes an axial shaft 70 journaled inbearings 72 in the opposite side members 48. As is apparent, the rolls60 and 68 are adjacent and cooperate to condition the crop as it passesbetween the rolls, the upper roll being vertically adjustable toaccommodate differences in the thickness of the mat of material passingbetween the rolls. The upper roll 60 is biased downwardly toward thelower roll 68 by a transverse helical tension spring 73, which isdisposed above the top member 50 and has its opposite ends connected tothe opposite arms 56 by means of chains 74, which are trained aroundidler sprockets 76 on opposite sides of the conditioner unit. As isapparent, the chains are attached to the arms above and rearwardly ofthe arm pivots 58 so that the tension in the chains 74 exerted by thespring 73 urges the forward ends of the arms 56 and the conditioner roll60 mounted thereon downwardly toward the lower roll 68. The conditionerrolls are preferably of the intermeshing type, and in the illustratedembodiment are of the crimper type, which are conventionally made ofsteel and have intermeshing flutes, which crimp the crop at regularintervals as it passes between the rolls. A platform drive shaft 78extends forwardly from the traction unit and is driven by the engine inknown manner. The forward end of the drive shaft 78 is connected to atransverse drive shaft 80 by means of a bevel gearbox 82. As isapparent, the drive shaft 80 extends in both directions from the bevelgearbox 82 to the opposite sides of the platform along the upper portionof the rear wall 30. The rear wall 30 outwardly of the platform framemembers 28 is a double wall, and the outer portions of the drive shaft80 are disposed between the wall panels, the outer portions of the driveshaft being schematically shown in FIG. 2. The righthand end of thedrive shaft provides the input for a pair of drives, which respectivelydrive the reel 40 and the auger 42 in a conventional manner, the drivesbeing located under a shield 84 on the right side 34 of the platform.The left end of the drive shaft 80 provides the input for driving theconditioner unit 46 and the cutter bar 38, the drive being disposedunder a shield 85 on the left side 36 of the platform, the shield 85being removed in FIG. 3. The cutter bar and conditioning unit drivesinclude a double drive sheave 86 on the outer end of the drive shaft 80,and one of the sheaves of the double sheave 86 is connected to an inputsheave 87 for a wobble-type cutter bar. driving mechanism 88 by means ofa belt 90. The drive mechanism 88 is of known construction and mountedon the left-hand end of the cutter bar 38. A second belt 92 around thedrive sheave 86 is trained around and drives a sheave 93 mounted on theinput shaft 94 of a gearbox 96 mounted on the left side of the platformadjacent the rear wall 30. A belt tensioning mechanism 97 providesproper belt tension in the drive belt 92.

The gearbox 96 has an upper output shaft 98 directly connected to theinput shaft 94 and a lower output shaft 99, which is driven in theopposite direction from the upper output shaft 98 by means of a pair ofmeshing spur gears 100 and 102 respectively mounted on the shafts 98 and99. The upper gearbox output shaft is connected to the outer end of anupper roll drive shaft 104, which extends transversely along the rearwall 30 and has its inner end connected to the upper roll shaft 62.Similarly, the lower output shaft 99 is connected to the outer end of alower roll drive shaft 106, which also extends transversely along therear wall 30 and has its inner end connected to the lower roll shaft 70.The upper roll drive shaft 104 is provided with a pair of U- joints 108adjacent its opposite ends to accommodate the vertical adjustment of theupper roll, while the lower roll drive shaft 106 is similarly providedwith a pair of universal joints 110, which accommodate misalignmentbetween the gearbox output shaft 99 and the lower conditioner roll.

The outer ends of the drive shafts 104 and 106 are respectivelyconnected to the gearbox output shafts 98 and 99 by timing mechanisms112 and 114 respectively. The timing mechanisms 112 and 114 permit asmall degree of angular adjustment between the gearbox output shafts andthe roll drive shafts, only the upper timing mechanism 112 being shownin detail in FIG. 5. The timing mechanism 112 includes a circular innerplate 116, coaxially attached to the drive shaft 104, and a similarcircular outer plate 118 attached to the shaft 98 and disposed adjacentto the inner plate 116. The inner plate has a pair of arcuate slots 120,equidistantly offset from the axis of the plate, and a plurality ofequiangularly spaced transverse holes offset from the center plate thesame distance as the slots 120. A plurality of transverse holes 124 areprovided in the outer plate 118, the holes 124 being offset from thecenter of the plate the same distance as the holes 122, but spaced atdifferent angular intervals. A pair of fasteners 126 hole through theslots 120 and through two of the holes in the plate 118, the slotspermitting relative angular adjustment between the plates 116 and 118 adistance equal to the length of the slots. The plates can be locked inthe selected relative position by a third fastener 126 extending througha be 122 in the plate 116 and a hole 124 in the plate 118, the differentangular spacing between the holes allowing one hole in one plate to besubstantially aligned with a hole in the other plate regardless of thedifferent angular positions of the plates. in operation, the timingmechanisms 112 and 114 can be utilized to adjust the relative angularpositions of the drive shafts 104 and 106 and thereby adjust therelationship between the upper and lower conditioner rolls, which, inthe preferred embodiment are fluted and intermesh, the adjustmentprovided by the timing mechanism providing for a proper mesh of theconditioner rolls.

As is apparent, the drive for the conditioner roll is provided throughthe platform drive shaft 78, the transverse drive shaft 80, the belt 92,the gearbox 96, and thence to the two drive shafts 104 and 106, whichare respectively directly connected to the upper and lower conditionerrolls 60 and 68. As is also apparent, there is no problem with changingrelationships in the drives to the rolls as the upper roll moves towardand away from the lower roll, and the drive shafts 104 and 106 provide asimple and durable drive to the respective conditioner rolls.

We claim:

1. In a harvesting machine having a mobile main frame with a powersource mounted thereon and driving a forwardly extending platform driveshaft, and including a forward transversely elongated harvestingplatform having a rear wall with a central crop transfer opening and acrop conditioner unit mounted on the platform for receiving crops movingthrough the opening and including a first transverse conditioning rolljournaled on the conditioning unit, a second rotatable conditioning rollparallel to and cooperating with the first roll and means mounting thesecond roll on the unit for adjustment toward and away from the firstroll to vary the clearance between the rolls, the improvementcomprising: a transverse drive shaft mounted on the platform and havingan outer end adjacent one side of the platform; means drivinglyconnecting the platform drive shaft to the transverse drive shaft; firstand second roll drive shafts extending laterally adjacent to theplatform rear walland having their inner ends respectively connected tothe first and second conditioner rolls and their outer .ends disposedadjacent to said one side of the platform; a gearbox mounted on theplatform adjacent said one side and including an input shaft andfirstand second output shafts respectively connected to the first and secondroll drive shafts, the first output shaft being connected to and drivenin the opposite direction from-the second output shaft by gear means;and drive means mounted on said one side of the platform for drivinglyconnecting the outer end of the transverse drive shaft to the gearboxinput shaft.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises abelt drive including a drive sheave mounted on the transverse driveshaft and a driven sheave mounted on the gearbox input shaft.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein the gearbox input shaft isdirectly connected to the second gearbox output shaft.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 and including timing meansassociated with at least one of said roll drive shafts for angularlyadjusting one end of the shaft relative to the other and therebyangularly adjust one roll while maintaining the angular position of theother to time the angular relationship between the rolls.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the first and second rolldrive shafts respectively include a pair of universal joints.

6. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the second drive shaftincludes a pair of universal joints operative to accommodate verticaladjustment of the second conditioner roll.

7. In a harvesting machine having a mobile frame, a power source and apair of cooperating crop conditioning rolls rotatably mountedon theframe for conditioning the crop as it passes between the rolls, one ofsaid rolls being mounted for shifting toward and away from the otherroll to vary the clearance between the rolls, the improvementcomprising: a gearbox mounted on the frame and having an input shaft,operatively connected to and driven by the power source, and a pair ofoutput shafts driven in opposite directions; a first drive shaftoperatively connecting one of said output shafts to said one shiftableroll to drive the roll in one direction and including a pair ofuniversal joints adapted to accommodate the shifting of the roll; asecond drive shaft operatively connecting the other output shaft to theother roll to drive said roll in the opposite direction from said oneroll; and timing means associated with at least one of said roll driveshafts for angularly adjusting one end of the shaft relative to theother and thereby angularly adjust one roll while maintaining theangular position of the other to time the angular relationship betweenthe rolls.

1. In a harvesting machine having a mobile main frame with a powersource mounted thereon and driving a forwardly extending platform driveshaft, and including a forward transversely elongated harvestingplatform having a rear wall with a central crop transfer opening and acrop conditioner unit mounted on the platform for receiving crops movingthrough the opening and including a first transverse conditioning rolljournaled on the conditioning unit, a second rotatable conditioning rollparallel to and cooperating with the first roll and means mounting thesecond roll on the unit for adjustment toward and away from the firstroll to vary the clearance between the rolls, the improvementcomprising: a transverse drive shaft mounted on the platform and havingan outer end adjacent one side of the platform; means drivinglyconnecting the plaTform drive shaft to the transverse drive shaft; firstand second roll drive shafts extending laterally adjacent to theplatform rear wall and having their inner ends respectively connected tothe first and second conditioner rolls and their outer ends disposedadjacent to said one side of the platform; a gearbox mounted on theplatform adjacent said one side and including an input shaft and firstand second output shafts respectively connected to the first and secondroll drive shafts, the first output shaft being connected to and drivenin the opposite direction from the second output shaft by gear means;and drive means mounted on said one side of the platform for drivinglyconnecting the outer end of the transverse drive shaft to the gearboxinput shaft.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said drivemeans comprises a belt drive including a drive sheave mounted on thetransverse drive shaft and a driven sheave mounted on the gearbox inputshaft.
 3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein the gearbox inputshaft is directly connected to the second gearbox output shaft.
 4. Theinvention defined in claim 1 and including timing means associated withat least one of said roll drive shafts for angularly adjusting one endof the shaft relative to the other and thereby angularly adjust one rollwhile maintaining the angular position of the other to time the angularrelationship between the rolls.
 5. The invention defined in claim 1wherein the first and second roll drive shafts respectively include apair of universal joints.
 6. The invention defined in claim 1 whereinthe second drive shaft includes a pair of universal joints operative toaccommodate vertical adjustment of the second conditioner roll.
 7. In aharvesting machine having a mobile frame, a power source and a pair ofcooperating crop conditioning rolls rotatably mounted on the frame forconditioning the crop as it passes between the rolls, one of said rollsbeing mounted for shifting toward and away from the other roll to varythe clearance between the rolls, the improvement comprising: a gearboxmounted on the frame and having an input shaft, operatively connected toand driven by the power source, and a pair of output shafts driven inopposite directions; a first drive shaft operatively connecting one ofsaid output shafts to said one shiftable roll to drive the roll in onedirection and including a pair of universal joints adapted toaccommodate the shifting of the roll; a second drive shaft operativelyconnecting the other output shaft to the other roll to drive said rollin the opposite direction from said one roll; and timing meansassociated with at least one of said roll drive shafts for angularlyadjusting one end of the shaft relative to the other and therebyangularly adjust one roll while maintaining the angular position of theother to time the angular relationship between the rolls.